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DHS Open Source Enterprise Daily Drug Trafficking Report
1 October 2009
MOVEMENT:
• Customs Uncovers Prepared Opium Worth $11.7 Million from Express Cargo [US/Hong Kong]:
Hong Kong Customs has uncovered two express cargo drug trafficking cases in which 45 kilogram’s
of prepared opium, with a retail value of about $11.7 million, were seized. It is the first time in which
prepared opium was found being smuggled from Thailand to the United States using express cargo.
[On] September 27, Customs officers from the Airport Command inspected a shipment of five cartons
declared as "wooden carving", arriving from Chiangmai, destined for California. [Date: 30 September
2009; Source: http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200909/30/P200909300164.htm]
• 347 Pounds of Pot Found Disguised as Lumber in Truck [Arizona]: A simple traffic stop turned
into a surprise drug bust for an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer when a secret
compartment was uncovered on a flatbed truck. The smugglers tried a laundry list of odor masking
techniques in order get the load through, but a drug dog found the compartment anyway and
uncovered between $200,000 and a million in marijuana. … The drug smugglers tried to hide the
drugs in an elaborately constructed compartment made to look like a pallet of lumber. [Date: 30
September 2009; Source: http://www.ksn.com/content/news/also/story/347-pounds-of-pot-found-
disguised-as-lumber-in/1KS9RUfobkewGMVQYg_LGQ.cspx]
• $100K of Marijuana Found in SUV’s Tires [Texas/Mexico]: A Matamoros woman remains behind
bars after she allegedly tried to smuggle almost 100 pounds of marijuana in her tires. U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested Maria Guadalupe Calderon-Salas on federal drug
charges on Sunday. … [An] inspection with a K-9 officer revealed 16 bundles of marijuana hidden in
all four tires of her SUV. Authorities estimate the marijuana is worth $100,000 dollars. [Date: 30
September 2009; Source: http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=357062]
PRODUCTION:
• Pot Raiders Seize 53,000 Plants, Arrest 38 [California]: County, state and federal law
enforcement personnel seized more than 53,000 "very healthy" marijuana plants and made 38 arrests
during three days of raids on northern Mendocino County last week. The raids were the culmination
of a month-long investigation by Mendocino County sheriff's investigators, Sheriff Tom Allman said
during a Monday press conference. … Raiders seized 30,139 plants last Monday and Tuesday….
Some 4,931 marijuana plants were seized last Tuesday…. Raiders also seized 80 pounds of
processed marijuana and ounces of hashish. Eight people were arrested. An additional 5,610 pot
plants were seized last Wednesday…as well as 95 pounds of processed marijuana and 30 pounds of
hashish. Police made 14 arrests, seized $12,980 in assets and two weapons. [Date: 30 September
2009; Source: http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_13453477]
• Drug Bust Hits 'Volatile' Lab [Canada]: Officers interrupted a cocaine cookup with a high-risk
armed takedown early Monday, arresting three people and seizing more than $1.3-million worth of
drugs. The haul included 2.2 kilos of cocaine, 1.2 kilos of heroin, 2 kilos of meth, more than 30,000
Ecstasy tablets, and six liters of the date-rape drug, GHB. … Police also confiscated a loaded 9-mm

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semi-automatic pistol stolen in Peel in 2006, a pellet gun, unrelated ammunition, a bulletproof vest,
cell phones, and bags of cash plus a Lincoln luxury car. [Date: 30 September 2009; Source:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/09/30/11200691-sun.html]
INTERDICTION:
• 18-month Sting Nets 11 Arrests [Florida]: Federal agents announced Wednesday the arrest of 11
people, including four North Port residents, as part of a sting on Southwest Florida marijuana grow
houses. The arrests capped an 18-month sting operation in which more than $3 million worth of
marijuana was seized. … North Port, where almost half of the marijuana seizures took place, has
battled an ongoing grow-house problem, especially after the real estate downturn left hundreds of
homes available for growing marijuana indoors with hydroponic methods and high-powered lights. …
Grow houses, when undetected, can mean a big payout for growers, from $3,000 to $7,000 a pound.
… In addition to marijuana, federal agents seized more than $500,000 in assets connected to the
grow-house operations, including a Naples house, nine vehicles and a boat. Authorities also seized
an undisclosed number of weapons, including an AK-47. [Date: 30 September 2009; Source:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091001/ARTICLE/910011056/-1/NEWSSITEMAP]
• Drug Bust Nets 15 Pounds of Cocaine, 5 Arrests [Colorado]: Five people were arrested…on
allegations related to cocaine trafficking and weapons smuggling. In all, agents and officers from
several regional agencies seized 15 pounds of suspected cocaine and four firearms; the street value
of the drugs exceeded $900,000. … The arrests came as the result of months of investigation by the
Seventh Judicial District Drug Task Force, San Miguel County Sheriff's Office, Telluride Marshal's
Office, Mountain Village Police Department, Montrose Police Department, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms,
Durango Police Department, Southwest Drug Task Force and Western Colorado Drug Task Force.
[Date: 30 September 2009; Source:
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2009/09/30/breaking_news/doc4ac3eb5046913449941806.txt]
• 3 Arrested After PD Finds Stash House [Texas]: Three men are arrested after the High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area [Coordination of drug control efforts among local, State, and Federal law
enforcement agencies. The program provides agencies with coordination, equipment, technology,
and additional resources to combat drug trafficking and its harmful consequences in critical regions of
the United States] finds drugs in a stash house. Police said they found over a pound of marijuana
and nearly 130 pounds of cocaine. The cocaine was valued at over $900,000. The stash house is
located on the 11600 block of Casa View, and police said all three men are from California. [Date: 30
September 2009; Source: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/21166728/detail.html]
MISCELLANEOUS:
• Mexico's 'La Familia' Cartel Mixes Spiritualism, Crime [Mexico]: The government's three-year
war against drug cartels has claimed more than 11,000 lives, snared thousands of alleged criminals
and brought down scores of politicians. One of the newer drug cartels being pursued by President
Felipe Calderon's administration is La Familia — a group that mixes politics, spiritualism and violence
in ways never before seen in Mexico. … Recently, Mexican authorities paraded Miguel Angel Beraza
Villa, known as "The Truck," before the media. Beraza is accused of being one of the top leaders of
La Familia. Mexican prosecutors say he moved a half-ton of methamphetamine into the United
States each month. [Date: 1 October 2009; Source:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113350636]

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